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…or something like that. I got my inspiration from the High Heeled Mama via my baby shower centerpiece cry for help last week. Thank you so much, @highheeledmama for coming to my rescue!  Looking for even more inspiration, I clicked over to the Hostess with the Mostess blog.  I finally had this idea in my [...]

We paid a visit to our local food bank, the Northern Illinois Food Bank (voted 2010 food bank of the year), to learn about how they operate.  In our quick visit, I took away quite a bit of valuable information. Here’s a video of my warehouse walk-through with Jarrod Daab, NIFB’s Senior Development Officer. We [...]

I go through phases of wanting to exercise and not wanting to exercise. I’ve been in a very long phase of not wanting to exercise. I feel like I may have snapped out of it today. The weather has warmed up significantly, as in, it’s May but it feels like August.   So the girls [...]

I spent yesterday afternoon at the World of Whirlpool Blogger Lunch in Chicago.  I swoon over appliances and other miscellaneous household items, so this event was a good fit. I remember receiving a Clorox ReadyMop at my wedding shower in 2002.  As I squealed in delight, my girlfriends, who were nowhere near the marriage stage, [...]

17.2 million children in the United States don’t get enough food to live active, healthful lives – that’s one in four kids who don’t know where their next meal is coming from. That’s why ConAgra Foods is encouraging people across the country to rally together to help end child hunger in our communities. I recently [...]

On Saturday, Hailey and I drove to Rosemont, IL to catch the Imagination Movers on their “In A Big Warehouse” tour. The Movers are halfway through their United States tour, playing over one hundred shows along the way. That’s the big time, people. We arrived early and when I say early, I mean, the parking [...]

As one of the Blogger Correspondents for the Child Hunger Ends Here program, I’ll try to round-up the posts from our blogging team as often as possible throughout the initiative. This week, our topic of discussion pretty much revolves around the 30 minute special with Al Roker that airs on NBC tonight. Hopefully you’ll be [...]

You know when something is presented to you at the right moment, how it can really make you sit down and think?  How it can cause you to want to learn as much as you can about it and how it makes you feel like getting more involved?  Well, I was just presented with an [...]

We recently went to the DuPage Children’s Museum to hear Ralph Covert (aka “Ralph’s World”) narrate Sergei Prokofiev’s, Peter and the Wolf, while members of the DuPage Symphony Orchestra took on the musical form of the famous story’s characters. Ralph did a fantastic job narrating and keeping the kids entertained by including them in the [...]

We didn’t mail out Christmas cards this year (wanted to save a little cash…those stamps are expensive!).  So, here is a little family movie that will hopefully make you smile more than a card would. Merry Christmas! ParentSphere

For me, November is officially the one month where I look forward to a huge, guilt-free feast.  This year, we traveled 590 + miles to spend Thanksgiving with my family.  If I had to choose one meal out of the year to enjoy with family, this would be it.  No offense to my in-laws but, [...]

Soon, my house will come alive with giggles and chatter and special birthday wishes for mommy.  So, I woke up *extra* early this morning to give myself a moment to catch my breath and watch the sun come up over my steaming cup of coffee (mocha flavored).  I sit and focus, I stand and stretch,  [...]

The Westfield Style Tour made a recent stop at my local Westfield Shopping Center and whadaya know?  Stacy London of TLC’s What Not To Wear was there!  Stacy did a great job showcasing some fabulous Fall fashions and answering questions from eager shoppers in the audience. Here’s a look at some of the fun, Fall [...]

I’m including a picture of the completed Perry the Platypus cake in this post and will write another post documenting our “assembly” process.  There was happiness and then anger and then happiness again.  It’s all good. Happy 5th Birthday to my beautiful little girl!

Sometimes I get these crazy ideas.  Several months ago, I decided that I should make a Perry the Platypus cake for the kiddo’s 5th birthday.  So, I went online and scoped out some sites where people had documented their Perry the Platypus cake process. My-oh-my, this 5th birthday has snuck right up on me.  I [...]